Language Access Services

Our mission is to ensure that all deaf, visually impaired and limited English proficiency (LEP) persons have equal access to all services provided by the Olathe Health System, Inc. (OHSI), as required by Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We are dedicated to helping OHSI staff in the delivery of culturally competent care through accurate, complete interpretation and cultures values.

Olathe Medical Center 's Hear For You program, which celebrated 20 years of service in 2004, was recognized by the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in January 1999. It was given the Honorable Distinction Award for going above and beyond the requirements listed in the ADA in its efforts to provide health services to the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

"Hear For You" currently provides interpreting services for Olathe Medical Center, Miami County Medical Center, the physician clinics of Olathe Medical Services, Inc. and the physician offices located in The Doctors Buildings on the Olathe Medical Center campus. We also provide assistive listening devices for deaf and hard-of-hearing patients and resources for the visually impaired.

Spanish speaking interpreters on staff at Olathe Medical Center provide interpreting services as well as cultural advocacy. All forms and documents are being translated into Spanish. A Spanish TV channel is available as well as educational programs on our Newborn channel.

Olathe Medical Center (OMC) also uses a telephonic interpreting service, which offers access to over-the-phone interpretation in as many as 140 languages, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

All of the OMC's community education and wellness classes also can be interpreted upon request. For more information about obtaining this service, please call the Wellness Department at 913-791-4311. OMC also distributes "I am deaf…" identification cards, which can be used to alert emergency personnel about the possibility of a communication problem. For patients speaking a foreign language, we use language identification cards to determine which language a person speaks.